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Mayor James explains pothole repairs, paving ordinance and how residents can request streets
Summary
Mayor Scott James detailed how St. Albans handles pothole repairs during winter, the city’s paving ordinance and the ward-based paving list residents must use to request road work.
Mayor Scott James told the city's podcast listeners that winter conditions force the city to use temporary patch material and that permanent paving follows seasonal limits and a formal ordinance-driven process.
“During the winter months, the asphalt plants close down. They do not produce asphalt. So we have to fill potholes with coal pads,” Mayor James said. He described those cold-weather repairs as shorter-lived fixes that the city replaces with hot-mix asphalt once the plants reopen in early to mid-March.
James outlined the process for longer-term paving: each council member compiles a ward paving list, those lists go to the public works committee, and the committee narrows the list based on need and available funds. The mayor said council members typically turn their lists in by February to mid‑March, and the public works committee inspects candidate roads before selection.
He also explained the city’s limits versus the state’s responsibility: residents should call the Department of Highways (DOH) for state roads, he said, and noted the city sometimes addresses state roads only when the state cannot respond promptly.
Why it matters: The explanation clarifies how residents can seek pavement work, why some pothole fixes are temporary and why repairs on state-maintained roads may require contacting the state rather than the city.
What residents should do: Mayor James urged residents to contact their council member to have a road added to a ward’s paving list and to report problem drains or localized flooding so public works can prioritize maintenance.
